However I run into a small delima where it says get
<snip.
Installing a Portage Snapshot and Source Code from LiveCD (for networkless installations or GRP installations)
Installing a Portage Snapshot from a Gentoo Mirror (for GRP installations)
Configuring the Compile Options (all other installation methods)
<snip>
so I get the portage file... now there is no "dist" directory on my live cd's that Ive looked at. What should I do now, extract stage 1 to there?
(I need to copy the source over ... but no where to copy from!)
I really have no idea..... where to get the files from
I can see a folder with dist files in it on this ftp
(f*p://f*p.ucsb.edu/pub/mirrors/linux/gentoo/distfiles/)
but thats 4 GB + .... do I really need all those files???

<snip>
so I get the portage file... now there is no "dist" directory on my live cd's that Ive looked at. What should I do now, extract stage 1 to there?
(I need to copy the source over ... but no where to copy from!)

my problem is my live cd does not have a "dist" dir to copy the "source files " to the hard drive for building gentoo. I have stage 1 and stage 3 tar files however, and ive extracted stage 3 (so im starting at stage 3) to the hd already, and the portage, I just need to copy the dist files from where ever they come from to proceed . (But I can't find them!! )

..sparc is a "sparc" not a "sparc64" I don't think that will work...
if you have any more ideas Charles or Vu...

Vu
My system is a sparc station 5 (110 Mhz, 64 ram (2X32M), microSparcII.)
where are you having problems with your install I might be able to help....

The 1.4_rc5 LiveCD for sparc only has stages on it, so you won't find any distfiles on there. It does deviate a bit from the installation guide. The forthcoming 2004.0 sparc livecds will follow the guide, but there is no ETA on them as of yet.

Hi Black Thunder.
Are you trying to install Gentoo without the Sparcstation connected to the internet? If so then I have no idea what to do except for downloading the distfiles needed.

My SparcStaion 5 is as follows:
Fujitsu TurboSparc 170MHz - the supposedly Linux incompatible one
64MB RAM - although I only just received more an hour ago, so there's 245MB in there now
2 10/100 network cards - a SunSwift, and an Antares version (supposedly equivalent, but physycally slightly different.
2x9.1GB HDD, partitions are as follows:
sda1=/home (whole disk)
sdb1=/boot (100MB)
sdb2=SWAP (600MB)
sdb3=Sun Label
sdb4=/ (1GB)
sdb5=/var (2GB)
sdb6=/usr (5GB)
No frame buffer (I have a TurboGX, but it prodces a lot of heat and it's not needed anyway, so it's just sitting in a box)

I currently have so much disk space on the thing that I'm not sure what to do with it.

*** Completed websync, please now perform a normal rsync if possible.
Update is current as of the of YYMMDD: 20040229

That happens when I go 'emerge sync'. It goes through the motions, but when it comes time to complete, it either segfaults or gives me the above errors.

I just got some extra RAM for the machine, so I'm gonna try again. any advice before I do?

btw when I ran fdisk, i wasn't sure of what the hard disk parameters were, so I let the program use its detected defaults. It changed the number of cylinders from 1106 to about 256 or somehthing, but all the space is still visable. Could this be causing some problems?

Any ideas before I start again? Is the Turbo Sparc CPU just not going to work? I've heard from someone else that it can be made to work.

Ive got a 18 Gb scsi Ill try just to see if it works (its too big to leave in there, 2X 3.5 inch height).

However when I made the sun label, I made partition 3 first... and it automatically makes it as type 5. Ive read that this should exist as the 3rd partition on the drives.

If there isn't anything on them, remove one, and just try perhaps
sda1 as /boot +50M
sda2 as swa[
sda3 as whole disk
sda4 as / , say 2 gb or something ? see if the whole disk makes a difference. I've yet to get as far as you have with my gentoo install. I think ill try the merge off the internet, where did you get the dist files btw, those are what im looking at the... "72???" number of files.. thats what I need to get .

Anyhow im not sure about the error at all. io.c + bus error could mean many things to me (scsi bus, Gbus, what..lol ?) . I guess you could also try with just the onboard NIC base 10 and see also .. incase one of the Sbus adapters is for some reason making a weird error.

Let me know if it works... if not ill bring down my 18 gb and we will know if its a limit of a 8 gb barrier ....

Ok, I've started it going again, and I think the problem *may* have to do with the drive parameters.

Using fdisk, I chose 's' to make a sun label, where it asked me for the drive parameters. This time I chose what was originally on the drive instead of the defaults: CYLS=1106, HEADS=255, SEC/TRACK=63. I left all other values as defaults.

Also, when I partitioned the drive, I think I previously had overlapping partitions. For example, partition 1 went from Cyl 0 to 10, and partition 2 went from cyl 10 to 20, etc. This time I went from 0 to 10, 11 to 20, 21 to 30, etc. so no cylinder was on two partitions.

Thirdly, I added some much needed RAM so it now has 256MB.

The result? 'emerge sync' went without a hitch. The machine is currently bootstrapping now, although I wish I just went from stage 3 now...

Does anyone know how long this might take? it's been going for about 8 or 9 hours. I read somewhere that it could take a whole day (24hrs), is that about right? At the moment it's been on the same spot for a few hours, is there any chance the process has stalled permanently?
I can ssh to the machine, log in, and run 'ps -A'. The TIME field on process 'cc1' is still counting up, s odoes that mean it's still ticking over (very slowly)?

OT: I also started the bootstrapping on an old HP 712/60MHz at the same time so I could kind of 'race' them At first the Sparc was kicking its arse, but neither of them have moved for ages.

I'll let them go for a while longer and see what happens._________________Gentoo Noob

Also, when I partitioned the drive, I think I previously had overlapping partitions. For example, partition 1 went from Cyl 0 to 10, and partition 2 went from cyl 10 to 20, etc. This time I went from 0 to 10, 11 to 20, 21 to 30, etc. so no cylinder was on two partitions.

Dredging this up from a few years ago... Is this a recommended/needed thing? I also have a Sparc5 that I finally (correctly?) identified as a 170Mhz model (there's a fan on top of the CPU, so I figured I could never read the Mhz off the chip, but finally saw the "Fujitsu - made in Japan" on the fan housing...), and has given me some problems, which I'm now hoping is just that errant CPU type (I've also got an 85Mhz SS5 that I'm trying now).

Anyone know if when fdisk-ing it's a good idea to not have overlapping cylinders like what Vu did?_________________"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguisable from magic." -- Arthur C. Clarke